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Morlocks
Mutated by radiation but still mostly human, '''Morlocks '''are savages living in the New York Undercity. Pre-War History Opened in 1904, the New York City transit system was one of the world's oldest public transit systems, one of the world's most used public transit systems, and one of the world’s largest public transportation systems. Before the Great War, the New York City transit system boasted 850 miles of above- and below-ground trackage, offering 24-hour service to millions and millions of New Yorkers 365 days a week. The system boasted just over 500 stations, servicing all five boros of the city- Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Straphangers- a colloquialism for riders, derived from the leather straps standing passengers held on to on the earliest trains- were not the only ones who used the underground tunnel network. Akin to legends of alligators in the sewers, legends of mole people living in the tunnels began spreading as the country settled into its post-World War II boom years, mutated and deformed monsters plotting an organized invasion of the surface. There is almost always a kernel of truth in tall tales, and as the city transitioned into the new millennium, newspaper and media exposes shone light on the truth: communities of homeless living in the tunnels did indeed exist. For as affluent city as it was, New York always had to deal with a massive homeless problem. For many politicians and more wealthy residents, it was easier to let the homeless stay where they were- out of sight and out of mind- rather than deal with the problem of wealth inequality, and so the tunnels below the city remained a haven for those that needed it. Communities developed, and at its height, it is believed that hundreds lived in the tunnels below Manhattan, let alone in the tunnels in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens. Post-War When the Great War broke out and the bombs fell, the subway system was a natural place for the tens of millions of residents of New York City to flee to. Below ground, sometimes hundreds of feet, and reinforced with steel and concrete, subway stations and tunnels were an intuitive place to hide from the chaos and destruction of the apocalypse. In the years since, some formed their own advanced communities, such as Penn Sanctuary. Others formed smaller settlements. Many simply stayed in the tunnels, satiating their basic needs and moving on when the area could not. It would become this latter group that would become morlocks. Exposed to radiation and poor living conditions for generations, morlocks are fully human but have mutated over generations- though certainly not mutated to the point that underlyers or ghouls are. They generally have pale, mottled skin, often with lesions or sores or even tumors across their bodies. Given the tight living quarters that they find themselves in, malformations and deformations of the skeletal system are common. Many are so deformed that they do not stand upright and walk like humans so much as they crouch and crawl. They are almost always hairless, as the body generally stops growing hair to conserve energy, though the healthier individuals have wispy hair on their heads denoting their better nutrition. Because they need to maximize their nutritional intake, morlocks have hardy stomachs. They do not cook meat and regularly cannibalize and eat other morlocks and humans without any real health repercussions. Morlocks generally have poor eyesight but excellent hearing. They aren’t completely blind, but are near-sighted, having trouble seeing and focusing on objects that are far away. Their keen hearing makes up for this, and they are more auditory creatures than visual. Bright light can shock and be initially uncomfortable for them, but they are not averse to light; like anyone else, their eyes can adjust to light, thought it takes a bit longer than ordinary humans. Morlocks are not mindless creatures, but rather, are unintelligent, having fully capable brains stunted by a lack of any kind of societal educational system. Though they communicate with grunts, screams, and screeches, most are capable of forming words or short sentences, and there are even myths of morlocks and morlock communities that are fully fluent and coherent. They generally live in packs of extended family units, generally no more than 15 or so at most. The average pack consists of an alpha male, an alpha female, their children, and a handful of beta adults, usually related to the alpha male or female through birth. Periodically, morlock groups in an area come together to achieve a common goal- such as when the Cabal united groups to form a small swarm during the Second Subway War. Category:Groups Category:New York Category:Creatures Category:Mutants